Our December Monthly Staff Pick(s) Have Arrived!

The holiday shopping season is here, albeit a little delayed this year! Slow things down and give yourself a moment amid the rush with our, not one but, two Monthly Staff Picks this December. Our Selections both feature smaller sized pieces that provide the perfect spot of reading respite.

‘Life’s Short, Talk Fast’ is a collection of essays, edited by Ann Hood, that has writers celebrating, reminiscing, and dissecting their relationships with the beloved and binged television classic ‘Gilmore Girls’.

And ‘Christmas and Other Horrors’ brings together favorite authors like Garth Nix, Cassandra Khaw, and Stephen Graham Jones for a collection of short horror stories that center around just about any winter holiday you can think of.

These final picks of the year also make great gifts for, perhaps, slightly harder to shop for gift recipients and are available for 20% off through the month of December, while supplies last.

We hope to see you for more Monthly Staff Pick fun in the New Year!

• Life's Short, Talk Fast: Fifteen Writers on Why We Can't Stop Watching Gilmore Girls (An Unauthorized)

  Fast-talking, warm-hearted, and endlessly rewatchable, Gilmore Girls has bonded real-life mothers and daughters since 2000, when its iconic pilot introduced us to Lorelai, Rory, and their idyllic Connecticut town of Stars Hollow. More than twenty years later, it has become one of the most-streamed TV shows, ever.

  In an anthology as intimate and quick-witted as Gilmore Girls itself, best-selling author Ann Hood invites fifteen writers to investigate their personal relationships to the show. ("It's a show? It's a lifestyle. It's a religion.") Joanna Rakoff considers how Emily Gilmore helped her understand her own mother; Sanjena Sathian sees herself--and Asian American defiance--in Lane Kim; Freya North connects with her son through the show; Francesco Sedita discovers an antidote to pandemic loneliness; Nina de Gramont offers a comic ode to the unreality of Stars Hollow. For anyone who identifies as Team Logan, Team Jess, or even Team Dean, Life's Short, Talk Fast reveals what Gilmore Girls tells us about ourselves--and why it matters.

  This publication has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.; Warner Bros Television; or any other entity or individual associated with the creation or production of Gilmore Girls.

• Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology

  Hugo Award winning editor, and horror legend, Ellen Datlow presents this chilling horror anthology of 18 original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu and many more.

  The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world--yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a
  time when families and friends come
  together--for better and for worse.

  From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbors, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season.

  Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry...

  Featuring stories from:

  Nadia Bulkin
  Terry Dowling
  Tananarive Due
  Jeffrey Ford
  Christopher Golden
  Stephen Graham Jones
  Glen Hirshberg
  Richard Kadrey
  Alma Katsu
  Cassandra Khaw
  John Langan
  Josh Malerman
  Nick Mamatas
  Garth Nix
  Benjamin Percy
  M. Rickert
  Kaaron Warren

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Monthly Staff Picks | December 2024

"...and then, somehow, perhaps against all odds, life brings us back to each other."

• Publisher Marketing (click to expand)

  Nostalgic - Intimate - Bittersweet - Romantic - Emotional

  "A beautifully observed, tender love story with characters you really care about... a bit like Normal People. I devoured it."―Jojo Moyes, New York Times bestselling author of Someone Else's Shoes

  "A gorgeous story of first love, loss, and the people who stick to your ribs... Beautiful, poignant, and heart-wrenching in the best way possible." ―Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After

  For fans of Netflix's ONE DAY, a poignant and emotional will they/won't they story that cleverly captures both the thrill and trepidation of first love

  Will and Rosie meet as teenagers.

  They're opposites in every way. She overthinks everything; he is her twin brother's wild and unpredictable friend. But over secret walks home and late-night phone calls, they become closer - destined to be one another's great love story.

  Until, one day, tragedy strikes, and their future together is shattered.

  But as the years roll on, Will and Rosie can't help but find their way back to each other. Time and again, they come close to rekindling what might have been.

  What do you do when the one person you should forget is the one you just can't let go?
  

Gen Z often call them "second chance romances". 

And to Millennials they're about "the ones that got away".

They are the stories of those who come into our lives and leave an indelible mark. Those who change our world and how we see ourselves in it. Then, for better or worse, things end. 

...and then, somehow, perhaps against all odds, life brings us back to each other. They're stories about how sometimes lives are fated to be intertwined. Whether across years or decades. Across miles or continents. Stories about the comfortable familiarity of the patterns we fall into as the relationship continues as though not a moment has passed despite holding the fear in our hearts, all the while, that it could end this time, too. 

Love is messy. As too, is life. Few types of stories understand this and the connection between them as well as these. Few too, are as brimming with hope.

In the grand romantic tradition of Austen's 'Persuasion' & Rooney's, perennial Millennial favorite, 'Normal People' and beloved films like 'When Harry Met Sally' & last year's 'Past Lives' comes Claire Daverly's 'Talking at Night', our Monthly Staff Pick this August available for 20% off through month’s end, while supplies last.

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August 2024 Monthly Staff Pick

Staff Picks | Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman

“I’ve always been a big fan of Alan Rickman’s work as an actor so it was nice to see who Alan Rickman was as a person - not as the image on a screen. Throughout the 22 years of diary entries Rickman did not hold back and was refreshingly honest about his life in the limelight.” - Teya

Staff Picks | Redwall

"The first Redwall book pulled me into one of the very first lengthy series I really enjoyed and re-read multiple times. While I do not usually read animal-based books, Redwall has the right touch of adventure mixed with a load of suspense that kept me wondering what was going to happen next." - Joanna